Chapter 14#
Chapter 14 Car Racing
This was a top-tier room: the ceiling lights were as bright as stars, luxurious leather sofas, a full set of professional audio-visual equipment, and the well-arranged furnishings were all arranged by well-known foreign designers—but all this seemed insignificant when encountering the identities of the people in the room.
Even Gu Chenzhou didn’t dare to be too arrogant when he arrived here. The moment he walked out of the elevator, there was a faint smile on his face: “Hello, President Luo.”
The person who came up to him was about thirty-three or thirty-four, wearing a suit, with very short hair, looking very energetic. He patted Gu Chenzhou on the shoulder intimately: “If Young Master Gu doesn’t come, I always feel that the car race here loses a lot of color.”
“President Luo is adding glory to my face.” Gu Chenzhou laughed. At this time, the two had already walked to the sofa group. Gu Chenzhou nodded to the few people playing cards by the coffee table:
“Young Master Chen, Young Master Wen, long time no see.” He looked at the man sitting alone on a sofa, drinking slowly, and smiled, “Young Master Shen is also here? This is a rare guest. If we knew earlier, we would have arranged some interesting programs.”
President Luo listened with a smile on the side and did not refute.
Chen and Wen looked at each other.
Young Master Shen had already smiled slightly. His grandfather was the current deputy national leader. He himself was a few years older than Gu Chenzhou’s group of twenty-three, four, or five-year-olds. He had already reached the position of municipal party secretary in other provinces, a well-deserved top leader at the municipal level: “Young Master Gu is too polite. Isn’t this car race between Young Master Gu and Young Master He the best program?”
Gu Chenzhou smiled. Even if the Gu family in the capital was not the top one, it was one of the top circles. Naturally, he couldn’t plant thorns casually in this circle, but there was no need to rush to hug anyone’s thigh. He would race with He Hailou because he wanted to. There was no second reason besides this, and it was even more impossible to be someone’s program. He skipped this and asked President Luo beside him:
“Has Young Master He arrived?”
“Young Master He is much more attentive to this race than Young Master Gu.” President Luo smiled, “He went down to warm up the tires fifteen minutes ago.”
Every car race was prepared half an hour in advance. Gu Chenzhou didn’t intend to make an exception for He Hailou before, and he didn’t feel anything when he heard this sentence now. He just nodded and said: “I’ll go down to prepare too. Young masters, excuse me first.”
Young Master Wen shook the cards in his hand: “Young Master Gu, win the first battle. I am more optimistic about you.”
“Thanks to Young Master Wen’s auspicious words.” Gu Chenzhou smiled politely and went downstairs from another special passage on the top floor.
The two protagonists of tonight’s race both went down to prepare. President Luo looked at the expressions of the young masters present and said: “There is still half an hour before the race. Do the young masters want to go down to the entertainment city to relax?”
People who entered the system always looked very calm on the surface, no matter what they thought in their hearts. Young Master Shen just smiled faintly at this proposal: “No need.”
Young Master Wen followed lazily and said: “What haven’t we played in the entertainment city? Let’s just go over directly. They warm up the cars, and we also warm up the venue. Anyway, it’s only half an hour.”
This proposal was not bad. Young Master Chen, who was with Young Master Wen, had no objection. Young Master Shen also agreed after a little thought.
The group stood up one after another and walked in twos and threes to the elevator Gu Chenzhou had just gone down.
The racing track was neither far nor near from Starlight Entertainment City. It could be said that it was right behind the entertainment city.
Several people first took the elevator to the second basement floor. Some got on the conveyor belt in front of the elevator, and some walked slowly forward beside it. Young Master Chen and Young Master Wen distanced themselves from the crowd here.
“Haven’t seen him for three years, Gu Chenzhou is getting more and more majestic.” With his hands in his pockets, Young Master Chen said slowly, “With what he said just now, people who don’t know would think this is his private property.”
Young Master Wen sneered: “Maybe it is. We always thought there was someone behind Starlight Entertainment, maybe it’s him? Actually, once his signboard is put out, really no one in the capital dares to come and make trouble.”
“Everyone is here today. Shen Delin didn’t express anything when Gu Chenzhou spoke just now. I think it might be that one’s.” Young Master Chen moved his mouth towards a certain direction.
Shen Delin was Young Master Shen. Young Master Wen frowned: “You mean the Qiu family? I think it’s really impossible. Why would a girl from the Qiu family do this?”
Young Master Chen laughed: “What old calendar concept is this? What’s wrong with girls? Even if it’s impossible to produce another national leader, Qiu Yue is now a top leader at the municipal level. If she strives a bit and the family helps again, it shouldn’t be a problem to be a full ministerial level without accidents. Maybe if luck comes, she can even—” He reached out and pointed at Shen Delin walking in front, “That position. I think her mind is not on love either. Why can’t she plant a nail here?”
“Your words—” Young Master Wen laughed, “Are correct, but baseless! If Qiu Yue is really behind this, judging by Gu Chenzhou’s familiarity, I think the color of the hat on Young Master Shen is uncertain.”
Young Master Chen laughed out loud, thought about it himself and shook his head: “You are right. If the Gu family and the Qiu family wanted to marry, they would have done so long ago. If these two really liked each other, the family wouldn’t forbid it. There is no need to do this. Come on, anyway, we are here to watch the car race. It doesn’t matter to us who is behind this.”
This topic came to an end. The two stopped talking, walked a few steps quickly to catch up with the main group, and walked out of the long corridor together.
Stars studded the night sky like broken diamonds.
On the huge racing track, only one side of the passage had a grandstand built. Even if fully occupied, there were only a few dozen seats: this racing track did not sell tickets and was not open to the public. The only pass was the identity and face of the person entering and exiting—remembering the face by identity, confirming the identity by face—only the direct descendants of a certain class could enter here to watch the race; similarly, only the direct descendants of a certain class could enter here to race.
As an entertainment city, Starlight’s location was quite remote; but as a site for a secret racing track, it looked very beautiful: this was a suburb far from the city, and the grandstand faced a mountain forest. Faint light spots floated in the dark green woods, cicadas and birds chirped, and a cool breeze blew on the face, blowing away the heat of summer.
After driving a few laps in a small run and personally checking various parts of the vehicle to ensure safety, Gu Chenzhou walked to the rest area not far from the racing car for final relaxation.
Except that the drivers were not professional, all other facilities in this secret racing track were built according to professional or higher than professional requirements.
Most of the contestants were already sitting in the temporary rest area with all kinds of entertainment equipment. As soon as Gu Chenzhou walked into the glass door, the sounds of “Young Master Gu” rang out one after another. He nodded all the way until he reached He Hailou, who was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed smoking. He extended his hand and shook it lightly with the other party: “Young Master He.”
He Hailou brought a female companion today, which was very consistent with the rumors outside: she looked very young, with a few small pimples on her cheeks, wearing a white dress, her hair was not dyed or permed, just simply tied up, and a pair of glasses on the bridge of her nose. The plain face behind the glasses could only be considered delicate at most.
The female companion was helping He Hailou massage his shoulders and arms to relax. He Hailou smiled and put out the cigarette butt: “I didn’t expect to race with Young Master Gu so soon. Keke, call Young Master Gu.”
The white dress called out “Young Master Gu” somewhat crampedly and shyly. Everyone in the circle knew He Hailou’s monotonous preference for companions. After a few times, no one had any expectations for the people he brought out. Gu Chenzhou nodded slightly to the white dress who could almost be called a girl, and said to He Hailou: “I have been looking forward to it for a long time.”
He Hailou raised his eyebrows: “Young Master Gu seems very confident.”
“I dare not say that. I have watched the video, Young Master He drives very well.” Gu Chenzhou smiled slightly, with a double meaning, “It’s just that Young Master He’s temper suits my appetite very well. Since returning to China, I have always wanted to get close to Young Master He.”
He Hailou’s gaze slid across Gu Chenzhou’s face. The corners of his lips curled up, smiling yet not smiling: “What a coincidence—I think so too.”
Separated by hundreds of meters from the racing track, the vast majority of people who came to Starlight Entertainment didn’t know that there was such a secret car track behind the entertainment city they played in.
This vast majority also included Gu’s younger brother, who was not yet eighteen, and his two friends.
The Starlight private room on the second floor of Starlight Entertainment City was the most luxurious private room open to customers in the entire entertainment city. Adopting a vaulted design, one could see the starry sky when looking up. The circular floor with a diameter of about two meters in the center of the private room facing the starry sky was also hollowed out and paved with one-way visible glass. The glass faced the dance floor on the first floor. People in the dance floor couldn’t see the appearance of the second floor, but people sitting on the second floor could easily see the dance floor downstairs at a glance.
This was not the first time Gu Zhengjia had come to a similar place.
Since Gu Chenzhou returned home to recuperate, Gu Zhengjia had been much freer. Gu Xinjun and Zheng Yuelin, who were busy with work, no longer rigidly required Gu Zhengjia not to go here or there, or must go home at what time, effectively throwing half of the discipline task to Gu Chenzhou.
Gu Chenzhou didn’t ignore this matter. He would take him along when he went out several times, sometimes to let him see the world, sometimes to introduce someone specially. For this kind of most common entertainment city, he could come in twice out of five times he went out. In his eyes, there was really no mystery, and it felt less fun than computer games.
Like tonight, he didn’t want to come out, but two good friends called home, and Gu Chenzhou really wanted to go out, so he brought people along.
There were two princesses and three ladies standing in the private room for three guests. Not to mention anything else, just their looks were pleasing to the eye.
Young Master Zhang lay on the lap of one of the plump ladies, and let out a comfortable moan under the other party’s authentic massage: “Young Master Gu, how does your brother treat you exactly? Why do I think it’s quite good.”
Gu Zhengjia held a drink mixed by the bartender that was almost like juice, listening to the lady singing on the stage. He said: “It is quite good.”
Young Master Zhang scrambled up, and Young Master Lin, who was asking the lady to drink, also looked over: “Is it the truth?”
Gu Zhengjia glanced at the two: “Why are you so concerned about this? Don’t tell me someone asked you to sound me out.”
The two were embarrassed: “How could that be, aren’t we concerned about you?”
Gu Zhengjia just said it casually: “It is the truth,” he thought for a while, “My big brother is actually relatively cold, but if you go to him, he won’t ignore you. Sometimes even if you don’t go to him, he won’t fail to consider what he should consider.”
“For example?” Young Master Lin asked curiously.
“For example, no matter how much you ask her to drink, she won’t let you go further.” Gu Zhengjia pointed to the lady beside Young Master Lin.
Young Master Lin was stunned, first a little unhappy, then looked at the smiling lady beside him, and suddenly understood: Gu Chenzhou took Gu Zhengjia to meet people and entered various entertainment venues, so it couldn’t be said that he didn’t care; but it wasn’t ’too much care’, at least Gu Chenzhou didn’t let the other party touch the ladies…
Although he understood, Young Master Lin still couldn’t save face for a while, and his expression showed some unhappiness.
Gu Zhengjia knew he spoke without thinking and had a loose tongue as soon as the words came out. He coughed and quickly remedied: “There’s nothing fun for just the few of us to sing. How about we go to the casino downstairs to have a look?”
It wasn’t really about making trouble. Since there was a way out, Young Master Lin took it: “Your big brother lets you go?”
“Hey, actually he doesn’t control much. No drugs, no women. Drinking is allowed, explain yourself if drunk. Going to the casino is also allowed, but the money must be my own.” Gu Zhengjia was a bit tangled when he said the last sentence.
Young Master Zhang looked sideways: “Your own? Minister Gu didn’t give you too much pocket money, right?”
Gu Zhengjia nodded: “My big brother gave me a limit,” he looked at the curious looks of the two people beside him, touched his nose and said, “Ten thousand, I guess.”
The topic diverted, and Young Master Lin recovered. He laughed: “Ten thousand? Just like the Shen family, your big brother isn’t too generous either.”
Compared to Gu Chenzhou and the others, these young kids really dared to say anything. Gu Zhengjia was a bit unhappy: “My big brother’s surname is Gu, and this money—” He paused, thinking of the usual relationship between the few people, and still said, “In fact, my big brother gave me a card and let me choose between 10,000 and 1 million. Then he showed me the performance report of a company in his hand, showing me the wages inside and the value created by each person.”
Speaking of this, Gu Zhengjia didn’t want to continue, but the two who were listening with relish urged frequently, so he continued reluctantly:
“Then he told me that if I want to gamble, I can, choose any amount. If I win, it’s all mine. If I lose—”
“He wouldn’t make you pay it back, would he?” Young Master Zhang said in surprise, “That’s too stingy.”
“Bullshit!” Gu Zhengjia cursed, “My big brother’s money didn’t come from the wind. I don’t lack food or clothing. Other small things are fine, but if he really gives me this money, should I really take it?” This question of values couldn’t be explained clearly in a sentence or two, so Gu Zhengjia simply kept a straight face, “Do you want to continue listening?”
“Of course,” Young Master Lin laughed, “This is not something anyone can hear.”
Gu Zhengjia cleared his throat: “If I lose, I don’t have to pay it back, but I have to create the same value.”
There is a mystery in these words. Young Master Lin and Young Master Zhang looked at each other: “What does that mean?”
“It means I have to find a capable job and use my spare time to create value until my gambling debt is offset.” Gu Zhengjia explained.
Young Master Zhang pondered: “If it is really implemented, this is not easy… You are only in high school. Even if your surname is Gu, people in ordinary units don’t know. How long will it take to earn ten thousand?” He looked at Gu Zhengjia whose eyes were drifting, and suspected, “You aren’t fooling us, are you?”
“Who wants to fool you.” Gu Zhengjia muttered.
“Then you definitely haven’t finished!” Friends for several years, these three people knew each other somewhat. Young Master Lin said with certainty at this time.
“…Alright,” Gu Zhengjia succumbed, “My big brother said considering my current age, he also gave me a family and friend price.”
“What is the family and friend price?”
“30% of the total.” Gu Zhengjia found it hard to speak.
The other two burst into laughter instantly, laughing all the way until the three of them entered the casino, and still couldn’t stop.
Gu Zhengjia turned angry from embarrassment and turned to leave. It was Young Master Zhang standing next to him who was quick-eyed and quick-handed to grab his clothes, wiping the tears that came out while saying: “Haha… I won’t laugh, hahaha… Why do this—Brother 30%, it’s really not easy for you hahahaha—”
“If you laugh again, if you laugh again I’ll fall out with you!” Gu Zhengjia shouted, but didn’t really struggle, and walked in backwards with the other party, until Young Master Lin next to him suddenly stopped smiling, patted his arm, and said:
“Look who that is?”
Young Master Zhang, who was dragging Gu Zhengjia next to him, looked along and stopped laughing immediately.
“Who?” Gu Zhengjia said as he turned and looked in the direction Young Master Lin pointed, but saw nothing, just a group of handsome men and beautiful women playing bridge at the table.
Young Master Lin, who called out first, glanced at Gu Zhengjia sideways: “Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?” He pointed to that place again, “Look at the man in the middle wearing a blue shirt and gold-rimmed glasses.”
Gu Zhengjia found the person according to the other party’s description: a man of twenty-three or four, gentle and handsome, with a beautiful female companion beside him. But whether it was the female companion’s chest almost entirely pressed against his arm, or the decrease of chips on the table in front of him, neither made him show any special expression. He looked very calm.
“Who is that?” After watching with Young Master Lin for a long time, Gu Zhengjia still felt unfamiliar, and didn’t match anyone in his memory at all, so he asked casually.
“That is Zhou Xing.” Young Master Zhang on the side said weakly, “Your big brother’s scandal lover three years ago.”